As part of the Danyliw 2015 seminar, I spoke on my research unpacking the meaning of Russian identity in Crimea before annexation and the (lack of) sentiments of pro-Russian secession. Videos from other participants in the seminar are also available on Danyliw Seminar's YouTube channel. I summarised the ideas from the presentation in a previous …

The Conservatives not outlined their plans to secure the rights of non-UK EU citizens in their manifestoes. By contrast, the Liberal Democrats and Greens have placed the need to guarantee the rights of EU citizens front and centre in their pledges to fight a hard Brexit. Whoever forms the government is slated to begin Brexit …

In courting the country’s most loathed oligarch, the EU and US will only lose the sympathy of ordinary Moldovans. This piece is co-authored with Mihai Popșoi and was originally posted on Open Democracy. In the midst of the UK referendum to leave the EU, Moldova’s most hated oligarch, Vlad Plahotniuc, put pen to paper. In …

Vladimir Plahotniuc is the executive coordinator of the Moldovan Government Coalition Council and deputy chairman of the Democratic Party of Moldova. Moldova seems in the midst of one of its biggest economic crises, facing a minimum of a $1 billion hole (1/7 GDP) since the largest banking theft in history in 2014. Moldova is also to …

As part of a project I'm beginning on the meaning and practice of EU citizenship in the UK after the UK-EU referendum, I am conducting research on the experiences of migrants, as well as their rights in the UK. Last night, I attended an event hosted by a legal firm and London chambers on EU migrants' rights …

For the first time since Russia annexed Crimea, Russian elections were held on the territory of the disputed peninsula. That elections were held in Crimea has been a source of contention between Russia and the international community. OSCE election observers refused to monitor the polls in Crimea, and the US and EU condemned the September …

At some point in this debate--which seemed to have no beginning--but firmly ended about 5.45am on 24 June, divisions within Britain became evident. I spend my working life immersed in literature that argues Moldova and Ukraine are 'divided societies'. Well, the EU referendum seemed like a blue eye, brown eye experiment: creating a huge rift …

In April 2016, Crimea’s de facto authorities banned the Crimean Tatar Mejlis—the organ of political representation for Crimean Tatars on the peninsula—under the pretext of “extremism.” Increasingly, Crimean Tatars seem to be framed as “extremist” just for being themselves. A historically nonviolent community, Crimean Tatars were the most visible and vociferous opponents of the region’s …

What does it mean to me (a scholar, activist, current EU citizen, UK citizen) to be an EU citizen? I cannot answer this question without thinking about my field research, primarily in Moldova. EU citizenship, for me, is about the status it gave Moldovans, to become Romanians by gaining Romanian citizenship, and thus to become …

@stevelevine @qz There is no defence against laughter. Once people laugh at a politician he's finished — Chris Cook (@cjenscook) June 6, 2016 I've had many a debate that 'man' includes women and 'he' includes women. No way: 'man' does not include women, nor does 'he' include women, implicitly or explicitly. These are male pronouns, …

Ukraine won the Eurovision song contest on 14 May, with a song framed around the deportation of Crimean Tatars under Stalin in 1944. Ellie Knott writes that the result highlights the plight of Crimean Tatars following the territory’s annexation by Russia in 2014, particularly in light of the recent decision by a Crimean court to …